I know I’m running behind on the Friday Monologues. But I’m still working on them. They’re just taking a little bit longer. This week’s will be done, and if I can manage it, I’ll do something a little special as well. (We’ll have to see).

Otherwise, things are going ok.
Still waiting for my eye referral, and trying to make progress sorting out stuff & making things. For those of you who don’t regularly check additions to my blogroll, here are a few new ones that I’m enjoying!

Figurvore (a new forum for 1:6 scale dolls & action figures.) It’s got a lot of emphasis on the how of things, more than the “what I have” of things. Good, friendly people. If you’re bored come check us out (we won’t bite)

Dolly-Novella a 1:6 scale photostory site. It’s got some romping fun reads and is worth the time navigating & exploring.

Also, Roville updated with a mini-photostory/ slice of life as well check that out here: Roville (the Office)

Just wanted to check in with folks.
I’m still having to baby my eye and so far the serious limits on the computer & use of the eye is helping a lot (one hour on one hour off minimum) The flashes are stabilizing at about 1-2 per day and maybe, with hope & luck they’ll taper off/ be gone.

In the meantime I’m waiting for my referral to the Retinal specialists and will have to wait to see what happens. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that if it is a retinal tear (like the ophthalmologist thinks) in progress that it’ll be semi arrested by the change in eye habits. Failing that, I hope that the referral gets here before the retina tears (more).

Wish me luck (all good vibes are greatly appreciated)

Yes, at long last I finished the project!!!  I’ve managed to make 4 “Valentine’s Gift” sets in 1:6 scale.  

They’ve definitely taken a lot of work & time to make and I can’t pretend to be sad to have finished! IMO they’re very nice to look at (I made all the chocolate / candy pieces to be removable) but I’m not sure that I’ll be making any more this year. Or next.  I dunno.

Anyway, here’s what a couple of them look like: (there are more pics on my etsy)

Check out Balthazar doing the Valentine’s Day thing below! :happy:  I’m so glad I got that Hot Toys sniper  headsculpt when I could! (I do really need to repaint those hands though. And de-shine his body…maybe this weekend!

Each box of chocolates has a different combination & selection of candies  and each bouquet is slightly different as well. It’s pretty much a case of WYSIWYG.

Anyway feel free to check them out—and as always, comment! ;)

Mark & I went to Leamington Spa on Monday as he needed some wood glue and the only shop that sold the brand he was looking for was there. I had a bout of car-sickness but after we walked around in the cold & snow for a while it kind of disapated.  Anyway…..On the way back from the store we passed a thrift shop (they call them charity shops here) and in the window I saw the most marvelous little cat for just £1.oo

How could I resist?

I popped into the shop–all but certain someone else was going to come along and snatch it out of my grasp! (I sound like a nut, don’t I?) 

Anyway here are a few quick pics: Classic Egyptian-esque cat

The cat appears to be made out of cast bronze (or maybe copper coated bronze?) and pretty heavy. It’d got some wear & tear on it but over all I think it was a fantastic find & will end up in someone’s office or home in The Quinlan Chronicles.

I just had to share!!! :)

Top 10 toys of 2009 … #1

So at last, we’re at the top of the list!

Doing this list has been a really good exercise for me…It’s forced me to take stock of what I have and what I really use–and why I use it.  I’ve gotten a lot of little nifty pieces (mostly props & the like) and some cool bigger pieces (many of which are here on the previous list entries) and the ones that have made the list have in common the following attributes:

• They’re cool
• I use them more often than not (pretty useful)
• They inspire me in some way

Anyway I know you just want to see what number one is!

#1

Customized 1:6 kitchen set

The customized kitchen (view one)

Description of Toy/Toyline:

This kitchen is made up of multiple parts. The counters & oven are from an old set of Pedigree Sindy furniture, the refrigerator (not visible in the above shot) and the table & chair set are from mattel for Barbie (from the barbie my house series).  The floor was made by hand staining the wood & hand laying & varnishing it. (Technically the kitchen isn’t finished yet–I still need to make the exhaust fan/over the stove unit, and some “hanging shelves” for the wall next to it).

So why did it make my list?

• I love it! It’s sort of funky & retro and of course it’s actually part of one of the sets for The Quinlan Chronicles. Eventually it’ll interlock to other pieces of Cass’s apartment.
• It fits all of my dolls nicely from my Momoko & Volks dollfies to my Hot toys Guys & CG Takara girls & Fashion Royalty dolls. That usefulness is key!

• It’s been a combined effort between my husband and I.  It’s got the best of both of us in it ;)

• It’s probably the most in-depth prop-project I worked on this year from start to (almost) finish.  And I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it.

If you want to find out more about the process of making the kitchen custom please search my blog using the keyword kitchen.  There are a couple of posts with photos of the furniture in progress.

Ok so….that’s about it! Thanks again to  Shaun Wong over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude for initiating the whole Top 10 List idea and inspiring me to actually do it (albeit a bit late). ;)

Just in case you missed one here’s a run down of the previous 9 items on the top 10 list!

#10

#9

#8

#7

#6

#5

#4

#3

#2

Hope you’ve had fun reading! 

About my expectations for my photostories in 2010:

My long talked about, long planned, long scripted photostories…

My point: Making changes in my plans for my photostories.

I’m in a kind of tough situation at the moment.

We’re trying to get the house ready & up for sale (which means getting rid of as much stuff as we can, and packing up much of my belongings & so on).  It also means that I’m really really limited in what I can do  work on with regard to my photostories.

This bothers me because I’m still scripting & planning. I have such a lot I want to do. And I’m frustrated that I can’t do much of anything because of my current (perceived) limitations.

So what do I do??

• Do I put all the dolls & roomsets away (the ones that won’t get taken apart & discarded) and just stick to writing the scripts? And hope that in a year from now when we’re settled *fingers crossed for luck* and I’ll want to make the sets & shoot the stories then?

• Do I try to do them now and end up doing what I’ll feel is a half-assed job?

I say that because I have a really definite idea & vision in my mind of how I want the Chronicles to be.

I don’t want them to suck (The stories don’t. However,  I feel like I’m letting myself down by not making the settings the best I can.) I’m caught between a rock & a hard place because I can’t work on any sets.  I want to make them. To share them with people.  But I want to share something I can be proud of–or at least semi-satisfied with

I do know I don’t want to shoot them & then  re-shoot them again in the future (I’ve tried that once and it was like all the magic of it left with the first shoot & the second was just “oh I gotta do this again!”).

So where does that leave me and  The Chronicles?

They’ve been stuck in a holding pattern for so long now.  It’s unspeakably frustrating…and I get tired of thinking about the “someday” aspect of it.

So what can I do?

I’ve been giving it a good deal of thought.  I want to feel productive about the Chronicles on some level, even if I can’t produce whole episodes.  I want to continue to explore characters & see if I can develop them more.  So I’ve come up with the following (probably very lame) idea:

Do a weekly photostory/ interview with a character from The Chronicles.

I know it’s not the same as doing an episode, and that whatever it is will likely be a monologue delivered by said character.  It’ll all be done in 1 room. The plan is to do them once a week and post them up on Fridays. Hopefully folks might feel like suggesting characters they want to learn more about (from the main profile site).

This Friday’s will focus on Thom Tazzo.

So there it is.

That’s the plan.

Please don’t laugh me out the door……

Top 10 toys of 2009 … #2

So at last, we’re down to the big 2!

It’s been a hard decision to make. Cool toys & props–all of them are interesting or useful or just cool in their own way.

2

Schwinn Black Phantom Bicycle (not xonex version)

Description of Toy/Toyline:

This is something of a mystery.  The only 1:6 Schwinn bicycles I’ve been able to find reference to online are those made by Xonex.  Mark bought one of those on ebay and was gutted to find that the quality of it varied greatly from my version.  Someone suggested to me that it might be an ex-salesman’s sample that was brought around to show clients.  I don’t know?

So why did it make my list?

• It’s amazingly detailed   :love:   (leather seat, chain, key, on/off switch for the headlight, the tires have their size & type on them, there’s a linked chain,  etc)

• It’s shiny & pretty (It’s just asking to be caressed it’s that nice!)

• It works! (yes if I had a 1:6 automaton/animatronic doll It could literally ride the bike around!) How cool is that? Functional and in scale!

What didn’t I like–or why isn’t it no.1 on the list?

That’s pretty hard to say.  I’ve been swinging back-and-forth all week about whether this should be number 1 or not.  It’s got a lot on it’s side.  It’s 1:6 scale, it’s cool, it’s pretty…..As far as cost goes it wasn’t that bad– only about 37 bucks (not including postage). Well worth it in my opinion. I guess the reason it’s in the number 2 slot is that I don’t get to use it as much as I’d like…as in it’s a great prop (fantastic) but I don’t build a lot of photostories around it at this point.

Ok folks! That’s number 2 down!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll do number one?

Welcome back for another installment of the Top 10 list! :D Hope you folks are enjoying it (or at least getting some ideas of stuff you might want too?)

This one is pretty short & sweet:

#6

H-frame Easel (in 1:6 scale)

Description of Toy/Toyline: As with some of the coolest things in my collection this is a custom piece made for my by my husband, Mark :kiss: .

So why did it make my list?
It’s practical & useful ( I had wanted a working 1:6 scale easel to use for painting–something I can’t do in 1:1 scale due to size/space constraints in our place). Conveniently the upper part is adjustable for various size canvases.

I also want to develop an art studio room set / diorama and easels among other things are on the prop list. So far to date the only sixthscale easels I’ve seen are the ones that came with barbie (and they’re crummy at best).

What I didn’t like AKA why it’s still below #5 on the on the list:
Although Mark did a marvelous job on it, the easel’s measurements are somewhat off from what I wanted.  Yes, I know that H frames tend to be fairly large (I’ve used and lusted after my fair share of them) but this one isn’t quite spot on. I wanted it to be in scale for use with Volks Dollfies as well as Takara CG figures but it really looks oversize with the volks figures.

I also wanted the bottom rack to be adjustable but somehow that got lost in the translation from my plans to his making.   :P   I’m ok with it since it works &  I’m using it but hope in the future to get a second try out of Mark (or else I’ll just do it myself but it’s a bit easier for him since he has more tools than I do). :P

As always, this post is sparked by Shaun Wong’s invite over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude.
And here are some other folks I know who are taking part in the Top 10 Toys of 2009 (please check em out as we all have different tastes in our toys!)

D7ana http://phillycollector.blogspot.com/
Mick http://mickbaltes.de/blog/
And C —whose list isn’t up _quite_ yet but she is working on it so make sure to check out her blog!  http://smidgehouse.blogspot.com/

I’ve had a hard time with the winter holidays for a while now, mostly since I lost my father in 2003. Holidays–like Christmas & New Years are times that I have always associated with family, friends & a general getting together of folks.  Warm times.  Friendly times.  Suffice to say that it’s not felt like that for a while, and it’s something that I desperately miss.  I do really look forward to spending holidays with my family & friends again–but until then I have to make a concerted effort each year to remain positive about them–and get them over as quickly as possible.

This is where the diversions come in!

Diversions are things that for me–force me out of a general mode of thought or action. For instance, This Christmas season I’ve been pretty blue. I haven’t really felt like making doll clothes (except as gifts), painting doll heads or generally customizing. I haven’t felt much like writing either. When I hit this kind of wall I have to break out and find something that interests me, but also isn’t something I know a hell of a lot about. I like learning new things–and new crafts are especially desirable to me. Of course, a lot of crafts require money & an initial investment to get the supplies.

You lump it or find alternatives.

Anyway, this sort of goes hand in glove with my Christmas season. We were doing low-to-no budget xmas gifts this year (the job situation being what is is) and I asked for a new 1:6 bedroom set.  Yea I know, you’re thinking what do I need one of those for? Don’t you already have one erica?? How often do you do room scenes with beds? Huh?

Well the thing is, that the 1 bedroom set I have (which consists of a bed & 2 barbie bedside tables) is nice but it’s a particular style & belongs definitively to Alison. Alison loves Art Nouveau.  I designed it specifically with her in mind. So no one else is ever going to claim it! :P

below: Devra is house sitting & borrowing Alison’s bedroom

The other problem with that bed is the size.
It’s scaled smaller than the 3rd generation  Fashion Royalty dolls & to be fair it’s a pretty tight fit for the Hot Toys guys.  Which limits who can pose in it (and be naughty) The older Dragon/BBI bodies will fit but it’s tight.

:(

So, I thought a new bed set would be nice.  And it might also nudge Mark into the right direction–C’mon folks, I know when you see what he can make you’ll want to get him selling! (I’ve told him we can set him up an etsy shop if he makes stuff) Anyway–back to the diversion issue– Bed incoming right?

Well it’ll be in need of bed linens & stuff. (I guess I also have to make the mattress for it too LOL)

I’ve always had an interest in quilting. No experience other than making a 9 patch block once.  Lost patience real quick (I’m not a big hand sewer). But I thought eh, I’ll try doing some 1:6 quilting. Why not?
(Um, maybe because I don’t have a large amount of patience?) I decided I’d give it a-go with some of the fabrics I had.  It was sort of hard coming up with some combinations that I thought worked together.  Right now it takes me about 40 minutes to do a block.

The blocks look crummy in the pic, but they haven’t been squared off or trimmed down to size yet.

Yes it’s very overdue.  But better late than never, right?

This is in response to the original post/ invitation from Shaun Wong over at the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude

(Please don’t mind that I didn’t take new photos.  I’m pretty drained from  the migraine that seems to be my constant companion these days. I guess I should be happy there are brief intermissions, huh?)

The previous toys:

#10 Special Cakes for You by Re-Ment

#9 Hot Toys True Type Bodies (Cauc & Asian)

#8 Nero the Bear

#7 French Restaurant by Re-Ment

#6 Girls Mission Figures

#5 Takara CG Ice (and varied customs of her)

#4  Sniper Guy

Now….for the final three:

So without further ado — here they are!

#3  The Blue Couch

Description of Toy/Toyline: The Blue Couch

This is a 1:6 scaled piece of furniture that I’d made myself.  It was a real pain in the ass to get the pattern on the fabric to line up correctly *in part because it was almost impossible to tell the correct side from the back side of the fabric unless it hit the light a certain way*. The pillows are done correctly but I didn’t bother to make certain the pattern was in line before shooting this photo. :rolleyes:

So why did it make my list?

I love this couch because it’s very neat, perfect for my full range of characters to use–be they Fashion Royalty dolls, Hot Toys action figures or my Volks dollfies. It’s very versatile and that makes it very very important to me.

#2  Minichamps Honda CB 750

Description of Toy/Toyline:

Ok, so I know most people aren’t going to twig this one. But whatever. 

Getting this bike was one of my few holy grails in 1:6. I’ve wanted this bike ever since I saw it on the Minichamps website. For  all the details on the bike look here.  I’d lucked out and got it at a local show & was over the moon about it.

So why did it make my list?

I wanted to have a character who rode a motorcycle but not one of the newer trendier ones that are out there. I wanted her to have an older bike. I’ve always loved the color & it brings back a real feeling of nostalgia for me.  I think there’s something spiffy about the older bikes that is not there in the newer more streamlined ones.

Not to mention that the bike is very nicely detailed. I’m talking keys that fit in the ignition,flip up seat, real chain… and just other coolness! If I could own this bike in 1:1 scale I would.  I admit that I bought the manual for this bike just so that I could scan it and use it as a prop for specific scenes with the bike & Cass.   I’m a dork. I admit it!!!

Now….for the number one toy of my 2008 list!!

#1 Cass  (custom)

Description of Toy/Toyline: Previously a Takara CG Midori Washio customised by me.  There are actually 2 versions of Cass (Cassandra) one being the more casual, everyday look, and the other being a more formal or polished look.

Version 2 (the more polished one)

So why did She make my list?

Cass’s character inspires me to write. That in and of itself is a good thing.   :D

When I first came up with the idea for her character I had hit a stumbling block over finding a doll or action figure head that I felt would fit the personality.  For the most part Cass is a casual, almost tom-boy who’s more focused on her work and her experiences with the paranormal than her physical appearance.

Finding a headsculpt that lent itself towards that was difficult. Many of them are overly feminine (and yea I know there can be uber-feminine detectives & stuff) or else they are just too mannish (and I know there are a few of you who think all CG heads are just mannish so we’ll just have to agree to disagree, ok?)

But Cass–once I managed to paint her seemed to spring to life. That makes her number one in my collection of 2008 toys!

How large a collection of doll clothes other people have? And how do they  store it?

I find myself thinking about that when I hit the fashion doll boards  and see the vast amount people have on hand to dress their dolls in.  I swear that most of those dolls have better wardrobes than people! :o

This of course brings us to my clothing collection and how I organize it (or more like the trouble I had with that) :rolleyes: .   I thought for laughs, I’d take a couple of photos of my personal doll clothes collection.  And how my storage of it has changed.

Originally I started out with zip lock baggies–each character got their own and all the clothes were parceled out as they came into the collection.  Of course, my favorite figures always got first dibs on the good stuff!! :D   But…I’m an impatient person & it became a hassle digging through a baggie trying to find exactly what I wanted–and or–figuring out what I wanted!

I’ve recently started working on a better way of organizing & storing the clothes so that I’ll be able to access them:

1. easily
2. quickly
3. with minimum disturbance of other things
4. in a way that was easy to store

But before I managed to do that…it devolved into chaos (see photo below) if you look closely you can still see some of the original zip lock baggies in the baskets.   :D

Now they look like this:

I’m pleased with it!

Easy to find a particular piece, easy to sort them (all short sleeves in one, all dresses in another, professional clothes in another) etc.  When I get around to it I’ll make labels for the sides of them–and store them on a shelf! (I’m psyched about that!!) The best part was how cheap it was to do this–the folders/boxes/ came from the pound shop. What a deal!  :D

Looking at all this stuff all I can say is hey, I’m still a kid! I need doll clothes! LOL!

I didn’t get as much done yesterday as I’d hoped due to migraine interference. However, I did get a really great start on making an outfit for Inessa.

Who is Inessa?

Inessa is one of Natalie’s characters and an all time favorite of mine (so much so in fact that I created a sister just for her–I love interconnected characters).  I was going to link a pic of Inessa here, but her profile page needs updating *nudges nat* However you can see  Inessa here. (please forgive how horribly blurry most of the photos in that story are)

Anyway, Nat’s been mentioning that she’s been at a loss to dress the poor woman.  Not enough clothing in her closet that fits her style.  I can empathize with that since I have a few figures like that too….So I volunteered as an x-mas present (and with the ulterior motive of seeing more Inessa photostories) to make her an outfit.

:)   MERRY X-Mas Nat!  :D

Hope you like! :D

This is what I came up with last night (and this morning & this afternoon). Hope Inessa likes it (Yseult, her sister is modeling it on a borrowed E body) As usual, click the photo for a larger version (and inside the little funky box for an even larger version to see well, whatever details there might be) :P

This is a 2 piece set– a black shirt & a gunmetal grey/silvery skirt. The skirt fabric was really difficult to photograph.  It definitely looks better in person!

I felt kind of bad that Inessa was only getting one outfit–and wanted to make things interchangeable, so I added an additional skirt with the wrap & stuff to make it more complete.

The check skirt, black top, leather belt & faux fur wrap

Now, on a related topic—-Clothes & the organization of them!

Actually, I think I’ll post more on that tomorrow!

I started this with the best of intentions! I was going to make some plants to use in my roomsets & dioramas. (Fail photos to follow below)
I’m sure part of it is my demand for high quality work on things I make. Probably. But the first round of plant making is definitely a FAIL!  :straight:

• First mistake was that I started out trying to make plants out of polymer clay. For my current state (a deficit of patience) this was probably a bad decision. But I forged on ahead. The outcome was horrendous and went immediately into the trash. (waste of expensive clay IMO, which pissed me off).
• It took a lot of effort for—a poor sample. Very disappointing! xD

So I then went to plan B: try working with the stuff I know, eh!?

Anyway—Here’s the plant:

In retrospect I can think of some steps in my process that if I tweak or alter them will give me a better plant at the end of it. So when I can build back up a bit of my patience reserve I’ll give it another go.

Anyway, I’ve decided I’m taking off tomorrow and Thursday and going to do nothing except doll-related stuff.  Maybe work on a mini photostory (not x-mas related) and get the meat of another post ready (I want to comment on clothes of all things!)

Until tomorrow then! 

So here’s a question of those of you who read this blog–where do you store/keep (or even display) your action figures & dolls?

Post an answer in the comments section (and if you have photos I’d love a link to those as well!!) :D

As  promised I’ve taken a couple of pics of where my dolls & action figures hang out.  It’s not pretty & they’re not particularly in focus, but you get the drift.

Shelf 1 - mostly the bicycles & motorcycles & 1:6 moving boxes are up there…along with a couple of in-progress dolls: Merrit’s Mom, Rupert, blue…Volks Century Model and the original Olivia the Hairdresser.

Shelf 2 – 2nd string figures (They aren’t less liked, it’s just that I don’t need to access them as much as those on the 3rd shelf).

Shelf 3 – This is the “Popular” shelf. These are figures that I usually want to be able to grab quickly & with as little fuss as possible (you’ll note that this shelf has the highest “ceiling” of the three. I did that because I kept knocking everyone over otherwise & just generally getting irritated & frustrated by it!!!

Shelf 4 – This is the catch-all-the-rest-of-the-junk shelf. You name it, it might just be there.

And even though August is on the “less popular” shelf….He isn’t. He just didn’t want to be stuffed in with a majority of students.

(Wait….hmmm… Something might be going on here… Girlfriend on one side…Co worker on the other?)

I’m not sure why but I’m in a pretty good mood this morning! Maybe it was the fact I ate these weird potato-cakes (think pancake but made of potato flour–and no I don’t mean latkes–which are way yummier!)

Maybe it’s the cup of Lady Grey tea I’m swigging?

Or maybe it’s just for the fact that there is a bit of sunshine to be seen this morning!!      :D   :D :woot:   :D

In any case I have lots to do today: sewing, photographs to take & of course, my hair needs dyeing! 8) My grey is sprouting out all over and I need to look a bit neater.

What I’ve gotten done the past couple of days:

• photographed a couple more books for Etsy
• finished rooting in the bald spot on Isha (It’s a shame really, I was liking the idea of her as a Klingon) :p
• put the finishing touches on the 3 CG dresses/outfits
• broke down & bought a high school musical doll at TRU.

(Don’t look at me like that!!! It was marked down to 5£ from 14.00 and I’d been coveting her outfit forever) I’ll take some photos this week of who’s got her clothing now. (I wouldn’t have to go through this if the TRU here would sell barbie clothes in packs…but their barbie section is less than 1/6th of an isle (and no, that’s not a pun! LOL)

What I”m aiming to get done today:

1. This morning I’m going to try to get somewhere with my clay, although preemptive to that is the need to clear my desk off.
2. I’m going to post a few altered “xmas themed” cards on the blog for comedy value (although some of them tie into photostory lines I am planning)
3. I also promised Nat that I’d take a photo of where my dolls hang out on the shelves in “my room”. Nothing exciting but I’ll post some photos a bit later.

Last Year (2008)  Shaun Wong (super collector & curator) suggested on his website that folks do/take part in making a Top 10 List of Toys for the year that was…

I think it’s a great idea and I’d love some company this year! (Without some egging on I kind of lose steam and putter out…though I did begin it last year but I never actually completed my final 3 or 4 entries…I don’t know at this point if it’s worth doing so before I start the next list)

Here’s a link to more info (including the format!) :D  It’s fun.  Really!

Fortress of Testicular Fortitude:  Let’s all do a Personal Favourite Toys of 2009 List

Anyway…Think about joining in the fun! (and leave me a comment if you think you might–so I can be sure to watch your blog when you start!)

Probably one of the most entertaining doll & action photostories out there, Love Has Fangs has always been a favorite read of mine.  It’s the brainchild of Elizabeth A. Allen, and it’s not your usual light-n-fluffy doll soap. For more info about the series check it out here.

Now, it’s available in printed form :woot:  from Lulu (not Hulu. Lulu!) So if you know someone who’d appreciate it as a gift, it’s well worth it.  Love Has Fangs @Lulu